The Detailed Depiction of the Nanking Massacre and its Resounding Effects - Book Report/Review Example

Chang divides The Rape of Nanking into three foremost segments. In the very first part, Chang uses the Rashomon effect, wherein accounts of different witnesses are equally presented and portrayed to recount the incidents of the massacre. The story starts during the winter months of December in 1937 as the fearless Japanese army made a sweeping descent into the city of Nanking. In just a matter of a few weeks, an excess of 300,000 innocent Chinese citizens along with brave soldiers were completely raped, tormented, and killed.

Chang used comprehensive and concentrated conversations and interviews with those who survived this tragedy. In addition, she also based majority of her information and details from documents that were newly uncovered. As she narrated one of the worst tragedies that mankind has ever experienced, the world was gaining pieces of the classic history of this dismaying occurrence of merciless torture and killings. The bestselling book published in 1997, furthermore, describes the outlook that the Japanese administration did not do enough to make up for the physical, mental and emotional carnage they have committed to hundreds and thousands of Chinese locals and soldiers.

Chang’s depiction of the torment, rape and the slaying was astoundingly detailed. This included surprised torture visits by the Japanese to locals’ houses, the burying alive of many, dismemberment, death by fire, ice, and by dogs. There were contests and competitions that decided who could kill the quickest. Concerning the mass rape that occurred, Chang said that "certainly it was one of the greatest mass rapes in world history." (Chang 87) Additionally, rape transpired in any location at any time of the day with any kind of person/people.

Even pregnant women were included. Chang described that at times, after the raping is done, the Japanese " slashed open the bellies of pregnant women and ripped out the fetuses for amusement.” (Chang 92) Many were bludgeoned by the Japanese military to rape their own family members. Nanking was as she had written in the book the city that served as the science experimental laboratory of the Japanese. After this book’s publication in 1997, it received worldwide attention, especially from the Western side of the world.

Finally, this book paved the way for the worldwide awareness and knowledge of the massacre that had occurred in history approximately six decades earlier. It received mixed reviews, both positive praise and negative reception. Most of its praise and acclaim came from critics in the United States making it into a New York Times bestseller and have been mentioned in many different important publications. It was praised in China for bringing wide-ranging awareness of the incidents for the first time internationally.

However, the book gained a prodigious mount of